Why are Weddings in June?
76Pagan Roots of Common Events
Have you ever wondered why June is the most popular month for weddings? Do you know why a rabbit and colored eggs are symbols for Easter? Did you know that Easter is always on a certain Sunday each year? (not the same Sunday -- so how is the right Sunday picked?) What is the significance of a May Pole?
June Weddings
According to ancient Druid legend, the gods and goddesses celebrate the coming of Spring with fertility rituals and mating during the fires of Beltane in May. Since it was unlucky to compete with these important dieties, most couples planning a Spring wedding pushed out their celebrations to June, so they would not anger the gods. Roman legend has it that Juno was the goddess of marriage so couples got married in June to honor her. Other legends mention that people took their annual bath in May, so in June were still relatively 'fresh!' Whatever the reason, June remains one of the most popular months to marry. August is actually a very popular month as well.
The Easter Bunny and Colored Eggs
Everyone knows that rabbits do not lay eggs, yet every year in the Spring we see bunnies and eggs everywhere! Why? One reason might hearken back to the Saxon goddess of dawn and new growth Eostre or Ostara. She often appears with a basket of eggs and is accompanied by a rabbit. The color green, a favorite of Ostara, symbolizes new vegetation growing on the land and the eggs represent new life and new potential. The colors and symbols on the eggs represent wisdom, strength, and fertility. The rabbit is the caretaker and companion of the goddess and her eggs.
Spring Equinox and Easter
Each year Easter occurs on a Sunday, but it is a different Sunday every year. Is this just a random choice of calendar makers? No. It is actually related closely to the Spring Equinox. The day is always celebrated on the first Sunday that follows the first Full Moon after the Equinox. In 2009 the Equinox was on March 20, the first full moon on April 9, Good Friday the next day and Easter Sunday was April 12th. The celebrations that surround Easter and the equinox are celebrations of renewed life, growth, resurrection, and restoration of food supplies. Both pagan and Christian beliefs are blended in these events heralding the coming of Spring.
It's not all random
If you look close enough at any long-standing tradition or practice, you can usually find its roots in legend or old religion.
Spring and Summer Traditions
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And I thought bathing on Saturday nights only was bad enough -- but once a year! Whew!
Nice hub.....I thought that weddings were in June because divorce took up the other 11 months? :)
ha ha. Might actually be some truth in that! :)
I've always been a non-traditionalist myself. I take my annual bath in March and thus got married in April:-). Great Spring hub. Thanks for the research and answering some questions that people (myself included) never even thought to ask! MM
Fascinating. I always thought June weddings were the result of instinctive mating patterns, given a month of trying to conceive, putting birth of the child past the winter months to give it the best chance of survival.
I am curious about Easter's relationship to Jewish Passover, which always occurs at about the same time. Do both relate to the vernal equinox, do you think?
There is some reference to pagan ceremonies that are very similar to the Easter story, and those are related to the Vernal Equinox -- so who knows? Here is a link to an article I wrote on Suite 101 that mentions the other ceremonies, but not the Jewish Passover -- it would be a good question to look into, however. http://paganismwicca.suite101.com/article.cfm/ritu
there is a link in the above article to a Website that gives a lot of information on these kinds of celebrations.
Pete Maida Level 1 Commenter 3 years ago
Facts like that are always interesting; thanks Janie. I love the deal about bathing once a year.